"We know it won't be easy at all to beat Sevilla"

Juventus winger Angel Di Maria stated the night before the first leg of the semi-final of the Europa League against Seville that they know it "won't be easy at all" to beat the Spanish team, six-time champions of the competition. He called for his team to "work hard" and "keep thinking of the final" because it will give them "strength and motivation".

"I've never won the Europa League and I want to win this competition 100%. It's very important to me, like all the other titles that you can win. We want to reach the final for our fans, who follow us and support us everyday", he stated on Wednesday at the press conference.

Di Maria, 35 years old and with a lot of experience in important games, stated that he thinks the team is doing "very well" and is "in very good shape", especially after the "important win" last weekend in Serie A against Atalanta (0-2), which gave the team an "extra" push.

"We will try and beat Seville but we know it won't be easy at all. They beat Manchester United, who have a very good squad. We have to work hard, but the important thing is to keep thinking about the final, because it will give us the strength and motivation to do everything we can to get there", declared the Argentinian national. 

The ex-striker at Benfica, Real Madrid, Manchester United and PSG, amongst other clubs, admitted that "reaching the final" of any competition is "very important" and the Juventus fans "need the sensation" of coming to fight for the Europa League title, which "motivates" them.

"We know we're facing a rival who have won the Europa League every time they've reached the semi-finals, so we need to break that streak. This is an important competition that lots of important clubs have played in this season, like United, Arsenal .... They were beaten, but Juve kept fighting and here we are", added Di Maria.